Individual Sovereign University and University Association Project Floridaby Harry Felkerharry.felker@gmail.com

Attribute to L. Neil Smith'sThe Libertarian Enterprise

Individual Sovereign University has proposed to generate funds in
order to open physical campuses; these would be small, decentralized
units with an area to host classes which require physical presence to
learn and allow for larger teaching and research projects. A new
addition to the available services of Individual Sovereign University
is Sovereign
Mutual Aid Response Team (SMART) or University
Association, which proposes to have safe houses and natural food
stores available should the need arise. I have a proposal for one such
campus in Florida, which I am pursuing personally not only as a
campus, but also as a home for myself and a 'safe house' and natural
food store location for the University Association.

My HomeI should not start off by claiming I am some altruistic saint who acts
without any motive to benefit, I do indeed stand to gain a permanent
residence from this endeavor. I have been in search of a residence for
some time, which coincided with the Universities desire to expand into
physical campuses, I had thought to align these two goals with a
proposal to provide the University with a campus that I would be the
caretaker of. Originally I was proposing a much smaller property than
Jim had in mind, which eventually I would be able to pay back on his
investment, but new developments require more space. Though it is not
off the table that I could compensate for the property in order to
attain a private residence, basically buy a portion of the property
from the University. Though I would still caretaker the property in
total, I would also have a portion in which to pursue my own goals and
aspirations.

It was always my intention to provide my courses which require more
physical interaction in the home I was preparing to purchase whether
or not I was seeking funding, I was also planning on entering into an
agreement with OSS Bank to provide open pollinated heirloom seeds for
their operation. In addition to these I was looking to secure a
property to work on development research on Closed Environment Life
Support Systems (CELSS) to bring sustainable agriculture
(permaculture) to every environment on the planet as well as improve
on the model for long term extraterrestrial living. It was never the
case that I was looking for a consumer home; it was always going to be
a capital investment, a vehicle to add prosperity to myself and the
University.

There is a mutually beneficial relationship which may be fostered
here, between the University, OSS Bank and me, one which, as I am
proposing, could be initiated with the simple purchase of property.
The University will provide the investment capital to secure the
property, I will provide the human capital to activate the property
and OSS bank will provide funds from wholesale seed distribution to
small seed banks across the nation, potentially world. The benefits of
this relationship include, but are not limited to: the University
would have a location for class hosting and revenue from the OSS Banks
return on seed sales, I (obviously) would have a stable home and
location to teach larger scale courses, and OSS Bank would have the
seed volume to increase its operation. When we add the University
Association's need for safe houses and natural food stores it most
certainly adds value to this mutually beneficial relationship and it
can of course add its services to provide value for value along the
lines of its own model.

Why Florida?Without a doubt there are going to be people who will question why
such an endeavor should be initiated in Florida. My answer is in the
form of a question, why not? The benefit of Florida's long growing
season makes it very favorable to food production, its mild winters
allow for all year livestock production, its loose gun laws and
recognition of self defense (outside major cities) is also a benefit
to this agreement. Other benefits include, but are not limited to, low
costs of living, available non-municipal land and a robust rural
community.

In a potential failure of government, especially in the US where
government is all invasive, food would be a primary factor in living.
Time will be needed in order to adjust to the changing conditions, and
the initial panic will drain the grocery stores quickly. This is where
the benefit of living in Florida begins; a longer season to produce
food and not having to winter livestock is an obvious benefit.
Certainly with a canning regimen any but the most extremely lacking
climates could be made to bear out a food shortage, but being able to
produce triple the food due to long seasons means that three times the
people could be fed, obviously a net gain. In reference to the
University Association this is also a net gain, the natural food
stores which will be available to members is dramatically higher in
places where one may grow consistently, shaving off a month which is
the coldest time. As for OSS Bank, increased production of food also
means a gain in seeds available for them to distribute, yet another
boon from choosing a warm climate, such as Florida.

The laws regarding firearms in Florida are not the loosest, but they
are pretty loose, one can still purchase a firearm from an individual
or from a gun show without involving the NICS database and
inadvertently giving a record to the federal government about your gun
ownership. Provided one lives in a rural area and has a large enough
property to warrant it, discharging your firearm on your own property
is also not criminal. Finally, shooting trespassers is not
discouraged; I had lived in a jurisdiction at one time where the
Sherriff's Department actually asked for permission before entering my
property, specifically because of this. How this works out for the
University should be obvious, given a large enough property, courses
in firearms usage and safety could be offered as physical courses with
actual range time with an instructor. SMART benefits from this
situation in regards to the safe house aspect it is looking for,
members can be secured and in the event they are attacked or tracked
to the property their authority to defend their lives is recognized as
is the authority of anyone residing on the property at the time.

The other beneficial factors are all boons across the board for the
University and SMART, either by making the plans affordable or by
making resources available. There are many CSA's in Florida, these
provide low cost produce and livestock products and are invariably
part of the rural community, this will help launch the University and
SMART into the general public. By networking with the CSA's the
University and SMART can fill gaps in food production, add a
demographic to their market and establish itself outside the narrow
"liberty community".

The most common complaint about Florida is the weather, the
possibility of hurricanes, tornados and lightning strikes. I think
these concerns are ill placed, there are abundant homes still standing
after 40+ years of existing in Florida, there is no reasonable proof
that with some care a home cannot withstand the inclement weather, on
the rare occasion that it does come. A less common complaint and I
believe works out as an actual benefit is that Florida is very out of
the way. It is true that Florida is out of the way, but this is
precisely what we are looking for, if not why would we even be looking
for rural property, this combined with a developed rural community is
a defensive tactic on the order of what the Appalachian residents used
when federal agents were cracking down on moonshiners.

When all is said and done the pro's far outweigh the con's, which is
not to say others should not also be pursued, it is rather a point
that the factors are most favorable to Florida, so why not start there?

Moving ForwardThere are abundant listings and each has its own benefits and charms,
it is really hard to choose but we have narrowed the field down by
factors of price, seclusion and land size. For security reasons I
would like to not openly disclose when a location is decided upon, and
where that location may be exactly, keeping this knowledge out of
public access is key to aiding in SMART's mission.

We are moving ahead by leaps and bounds, seeking attainable goals and
reaching them to seek another and reach it again, I would like what is
being attained in Florida be a model for what can be attained anywhere
in the world. In the end we will have to free ourselves, many
locations such as I am planning for Florida may be integral to achieve
such a goal.